Ah! The forest!
The place where I call home!
A place which is my sanctuary, my retreat from all the craziness of the world!
A place where I find peace of mind, communing with nature.
A place that I love!
My Home in the Boreal Forest of Saskatchewan, Canada
It is because of this love for the forest and all the flora and fauna in it that it grieves my heart so when I see want-um destruction of this beautiful ecosystem.
Ecological Grief
When you experience the loss of something you love, you grieve that loss.
This is not limited to the typical sphere of humans but we also grieve losses in the natural world like landscapes, species, ecosystems even special places that have meaning to us..
This has been termed "ecological grief"
Read more in my post "Earth Deeds: Experiencing Ecological Grief - Finding Some Relief..."
Unfortunately the land surrounding my forest home is in the Forestry Lease area logged by lumber companies which don't have very sustainable practices. I've been to numerous meetings, stood as a public representative in the provincial forestry meetings, stood in front of feller butchers that threaten our neighborhood forest but alas our words seemed to fall on deaf ears and our actions never had enough backing to stop the powerful lumber companies. The once vast unbroken forest lands in our part of the country is becoming more and more just little islands of forest chunks. This is very devastating to the caribou populations who need those vast stretches of uninterrupted forest to survive. Once abundant in our area, the caribou are being pushed further north.
Our home piece remains an oasis for us and the wildlife around us.
I look to the forest and it's abundance for a sense of food security. Emulating it in my food forest garden.
Food Forest Garden Nestled in the Woods
I have studied and learned to identify it's many wild foods and medicines it provides.
I've shared some in my series "Harvesting from the Wilds of Northern Saskatchewan"
Part 1 is at:** @porters/harvesting-from-the-wilds-of-northern-saskatchewan-part-1
Part 2 is at:** @porters/harvesting-from-the-wilds-of-northern-saskatchewan-part-2-a-prepper-cook-off-challenge-entry
One on the Chokecherry harvest with a pemmican recipe at: @porters/recipe-chokecherries-are-in-and-juiced
Also my series "Celebrating Healing Plants"
Issue 1 - @porters/celebrating-healing-plants-issue-1-alfalfa-medicago-sativa
Issue 2 - @porters/celebrating-healing-plants-issue-2-giant-hyssop-agastache-foeniculum
Issue 3 - @porters/celebrating-healing-plants-issue-3-wood-lily-lilium-philadelphicum
Issue 4 - @porters/celebrating-healing-plants-issue-4-fireweed-epilobium-angustifolium
Issue 5 - @porters/celebrating-healing-plants-issue-5-goldenrod-solidago-canadensis
Issue 6 - @porters/recipes-celebrating-healing-plants-issue-6-wild-rose-rosa-woodsii
Issue 7 - @porters/celebrating-healing-plants-issue-7-northern-bedstraw-galium-boreale
More of our local natural medicines at: @porters/local-medicine-natural-medicine-s-collective-wisdom-challenge
Watch for more issues in this series!
Beauty abounds here with the vast array of wild flowers as you can see in the series I share with you "Photo Journey Through the Seasons - Wild Blossoms Found in the Boreal"
Part 1 at: @porters/photo-journey-through-the-seasons-wild-blossoms-found-in-the-boreal-forest-part-1
Part 2 at: @porters/photo-journey-through-the-seasons-wild-blossoms-found-in-the-boreal-forest-part-2
Part 3 at: @porters/photo-journey-through-the-seasons-wild-blossoms-found-in-the-boreal-forest-part-3
Part 4 at: @porters/photo-journey-through-the-seasons-wild-blossoms-found-in-the-boreal-forest-part-4
And the beautiful mushrooms at: @porters/photo-journey-wild-mushrooms-found-in-the-boreal-forest
I love the forest with it's many seasons, in it's fall glory -
Autumn Colors in the Boreal Forest
And when it is a winter wonderland -
Nature can be a great teacher too, often revealing things in a way where there is no words.
I was once given an ah-ha moment that showed me somewhat what all this (life) is about.
Walking down a forest trail at a bottom of a hill, when I climbed to the rise of the hill a scene opened up before me -
There was a full moon rising over the silhouettes of the evergreens in the east and the sun setting behind the tree lined hill in the west.
All of a sudden it just hit me -
That this is what it is all about!
I could not tell you in words what it is all about, but the immense beauty and the representation of the rising and falling just made me know deep down in my heart that yes in deed,
This is what it is all about!
This moment passed and I carried on with my life. Every once in awhile, because that moment still lives on in my heart, if I sit quiet and tune into nature it will return and I am free from wondering and uncertainty. I can just be!
I hope you too can find that peace and abundance that nature provides!
Rising moon and setting sun photos from Pixabay.com
All other pictures were taken with my Canon PowerShot A495
